A senior US state dept official has said that the US has shown "arrogance and stupidity" in Iraq. Alberto Fernandez made the remarks during an interview with Arabic television station al-Jazeera. The state dept says Mr Fernandez was quoted incorrectly - but BBC Arabic language experts say Mr Fernandez did indeed use the words. It comes after Bush discussed changing tactics with top US commanders to try to combat the unrest. Mr Fernandez, an Arabic speaker who is director of public diplomacy in the state dept's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, told al-Jazeera that the world was "witnessing failure in Iraq". "That's not the failure of the United States alone, but it is a disaster for the region," he said. "I think there is great room for strong criticism, because without doubt, there was arrogance and stupidity by the United States in Iraq." He also said that the US was now willing to speak to any insurgent group except al-Qaeda in an effort to reduce sectarian bloodshed in Iraq... http://news.bbc.co.uk

The Bush administration is drafting a timetable that includes specific milestones for the Iraqi government to address sectarian divisions and assume a larger role in securing the country, The New York Times reported in its Sunday editions.Citing senior U.S. officials, the Times said details of the plan, to be presented to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki before the end of the year and carried out over the next year and beyond, were still being worked out.“We’re trying to come up with ways to get the Iraqis to step up to the plate, to push them along, because the time is coming,” the paper quoted a senior Bush administration official as saying. “We can’t be there forever.”...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15363557/

An Islamic scholar from South Africa has been denied entry into the United States, prompting questions from Bay Area Muslims who had invited him to participate in activities marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.Fazlur Rahman Azmi was detained by officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection when he arrived at San Francisco International Airport from London on Friday afternoon, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil liberties group.Azmi, who made previous visits to the country as recently as April without problems, was questioned for hours before being denied entry and sent on a plane out of the country Saturday, the group said. Michael Fleming, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman, confirmed Saturday that Azmi was forced to leave the country after a brief detainment. He refused to give any details of the case....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15366178/

Thousands of people watched a pioneering parachutist jump to his death from a bridge during a festival Saturday when his chute opened too late, a sheriff said.Brian Lee Schubert, 66, died of injuries suffered when he hit the water 876 feet below the New River Gorge Bridge during West Virginia’s annual Bridge Day festival, said Fayette County Sheriff Bill Laird.Schubert, from Alta Loma, Calif., had been well known in the sport of BASE jumping since 1966, when he and a friend became the first people to jump from El Capitan, a nearly 3,000-foot-tall rock formation, in California’s Yosemite National Park. The sport’s acronym stands for the places jumpers usually leap from: buildings, antennae, spans and earth.Lew Whitener, a newspaper photographer covering the annual Bridge Day festival for the Register-Herald of Beckley, said it appeared Schubert’s chute didn’t start to open until he was about 25 feet above the water. The crowd gave a collective gasp, he said....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15364271/

Five bicycle bombs and a hail of mortar shells ripped apart a market south of Baghdad on Saturday, killing 18 people in yet another sign that Iraq's government and U.S. forces were struggling to contain sectarian violence. Three U.S. Marines also were killed, making October the deadliest month for American forces this year.In Washington, President Bush met with his top military and security advisers to study new tactics to curb the staggering violence in Iraq, where more than 3 1/2 years of war have now taken more American lives _ at least 2,791 _ than the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center.U.S. officials have blamed the skyrocketing violence on the holy month of Ramadan, which ends Sunday for Sunni Muslims, as well as the increased vulnerability of American forces during a major two-month security sweep in Baghdad and the approaching U.S. midterm election....http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/21/ap/world/mainD8KTASOO0.shtml

An already dire humanitarian situation in North Korea is likely to worsen this winter after the impoverished country's nuclear brinkmanship resulted in sanctions and intensified scrutiny, aid workers warned.North Korea has still not recovered from famine in the 1990s that experts believe killed about 2.5 million people - 10 per cent of the population. UN sanctions imposed after North Korea's underground nuclear test this month do not cover aid supplies and charities have been assured the curbs won't bar them from operating in the country.'US NGOs have been allowed to conduct humanitarian assistance activities in North Korea, most of those at a modest scale,' said a senior private aid official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. 'Those have not been affected to date by the growing estrangement in the political relationship.'...http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1928447,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12